Huetor defeated Zaaki to win the Doomben Cup last year in a huge shock but Paul Snowden says no one should be surprised if he goes back-to-back.
Going into last year’s Queensland winter carnival, jockey Kerrin McEvoy identified French import Huetor as a headline horse to watch and so it proved.
Many punters expected Zaaki ($1.24) only needed to show up to win the 2022 Group 1 Doomben Cup, but Huetor provided the bookies with a result when he scored at $16.
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Huetor hasn’t won again since but Snowden, who co-trains with father Peter, loved what he saw when their gelding ran on to finish second and take significant ground off Zaaki in the traditional Doomben Cup lead-up of the Group 1 Hollindale Stakes.
Snowden said Huetor is cherry ripe to conjure consecutive Doomben Cup wins on Saturday.
“Huetor is going better this year – the form suggests he is,” Snowden said.
“The horse has gone to another level from last year.
“Last year Zaaki beat us more than three lengths in the Hollindale, but this year he (Huetor) has run him to a close second.
“I can only comment on how our bloke is going and we are very happy.
“He had a little burn-around the track on Saturday, nothing strenuous, and he looked very good.”
Huetor is aiming to win back-to-back Doomben Cups. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography
Zaaki is the Doomben Cup favourite again this year, although bookies are keeping Huetor safe and the Snowden galloper is about half the quote he was last year when he won.
Snowden insists it should come as a surprise to nobody if he wins the Cup again.
“It wasn’t a surprise to us last year, it was our first Group 1 with those European horses that we purchased,” Snowden said.
“I think he was the first one we bought actually, and to have a Group 1 winner off the back of that gives you good confidence going forward.
“We learned from that we were targeting the right horses to bring over.”
Paul Snowden says it won’t be a surprise if Huetor won the Doomben Cup again. Getty Images
Torrential overnight rain in Brisbane meant Doomben Cup contenders were denied the chance for a spin around the Doomben course proper on Tuesday morning.
Grass tracks were closed on Tuesday morning with Brisbane sodden from the deluge.
However, the good news is the Bureau Of Meteorology is forecasting sunny weather from Wednesday until race day Saturday, with no further rain forecast.
Last year, the Doomben Cup was raced over 2100m at Eagle Farm with an initial washout forcing a venue and distance shift.
However, this year it will be back to its traditional distance and venue.